Disney *sigh*

As an early hypothesis to my oncoming batch of company profiles for DFC Intelligence, I predict that Disney will surprise no one with the transmigration of existing IP into a variety of tired franchises. Of course, this is a pessimistic way of stating the obvious, but at the same time the leverage that these giant companies have could be used to innovate the game industry, rather than making a quick buck. — read on

The Emporer’s New Media

[What follows is a promo piece I've been working with George Chronis for DFC. It is, as is the rest of the Internet, in a permanent state of beta.] With Viacom’s re-entry into the gaming industry comes a lot of buzz and great expectations. Clearly such a media giant may have a profound effect on the gaming landscape. In other words, some caution is in order. — read on

But, what does it mean?

After the usual OMGWTF-responses after the recent announcement/leaked memo that SCEE is laying off 160 people who are suddenly too expensive (redundant), I remain puzzled by the following comment. According to the corp. comm. guy at SCEE, "we are entering a future of increasingly networked and converged entertainment." — read on

EA + Endemol: Virtual Me

As gaming and game play becomes increasingly less important to game companies, the real money this year seems to be coming from collaborations with media companies. Already knee-deep in IP territory, EA announced that it is going to provide "cutting edge avatar creation technology" to basically make a dimmed down version of whatever it is that people think SL and WoW must be like. — read on

FallOut 3 Lives!

The terms of the deal require Interplay to begin — read on

April 13th, 2007 | Licenses | comment

Warner Bros. Interactive + TT Games: LEGO Batman

After the success of the LEGO Star Wars games, it was only a matter of time before other blockbuster movie characters would be reincarnated in LEGO-space. Nonetheless, I'm excited about it because that Star Wars game was awesome. Nostalgia and 21st century tech mixed up into another great thing to do instead of working. — read on

Game Industry Outsourcing

During a recent project, one person I interviewed told me about how big outsourcing is becoming in the video game industry. Apparently entire divisions are located in Poland, China, and Latin-America. Obviously this is no different than what goes on in the movie industry, where holding a financial ruler to every project and making a studio increasingly time efficient led to a distributed - rather than centralized - production process. — read on

Midway + Cartoon Network (Time Warner): ATHF game

Clearly I generally wield an objective methodology and entirely neutral view. But perhaps this once one can make the argument that I too am susceptible to hysteria. More specifically, Midway announced today that it's working on "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am." — read on